Consultation on Ireland's draft Plan of Action pursuant to Decision VIII/8h of the Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention

Through this consultation, we are seeking your views on Ireland's draft plan of action to the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC) addressing the recommendations made in paragraph 3(a) of Decision VIII/8h.

The Aarhus Convention

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (the 'Aarhus Convention'), was adopted on 25 June 1998 in the Danish city of Aarhus. It lays down a set of basic rules to promote the involvement of citizens in environmental matters and improve enforcement of environmental law; its provisions are broken down into 3 pillars concerning, information on the environment, public participation in decision-making and access to administrative or judicial review procedures.

Ireland ratified the Convention on 20 June 2012. Prior to ratification, Ireland had fully implemented the provisions of the Aarhus Convention and the related EU Directives into national law in over 60 pieces of legislation.

Aarhus Convention Compliance Mechanism

In accordance with Article 15 of the Aarhus Convention the first Meeting of the Parties established a non-confrontational, non-judicial and consultative committee for reviewing compliance with the Convention.

Since Ireland became subject to the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC) non-compliance mechanism in December 2013, 10 non-compliance cases concerning Ireland have been accepted as admissible for consideration by the ACCC. These were initiated by communications from the public.

Findings by the ACCC of non-compliance by Ireland in the 3 cases below were endorsed by the 8th session of the Meeting of the Parties in November 2025. 7 communications concerning Ireland remain with pending status subject to further consideration by the ACCC.

• ACCC/C/2013/107
• ACCC/C/2014/112
• ACCC/C/2016/141

In paragraph 3(a) of Decision VIII/8h concerning Ireland's compliance, the Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention has requested that Ireland submits to the Committee by 1 July 2026 a Plan of Action, including a time schedule, addressing the recommendations contained in that decision.

The ACCC prepared a sample template to assist each Party concerned in preparing its Plan of Action, including a template for Ireland, which provides the format of the draft Plan of Action.

The closing date for submissions is 11:59pm on Monday, 29 June 2026.

Submissions may be sent by email to aarhus@dcee.gov.ie

or by post to:

ACCC Plan of Action

Aarhus Team,

Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment

Tom Johnson House,

Haddington Road,

Dublin 4,

D04 K7X4

We are committed to engaging with stakeholders in a clear, open and transparent manner.

Any person or organisation can make a submission in relation to this consultation. We will consider all submissions and feedback before we publish the final version of the Plan of Action.

Your response to this consultation is subject to:

• the Freedom of Information Act 2014 (FOI)
• the Access to Information on the Environment Regulations 2007-2018 (AIE)
• the Data Protection Act 2018

Publishing of responses

We intend to publish the contents of all submissions received to our consultations on our website. We will redact (remove) personal data before publication.

Please indicate any sensitive information

In responding to this consultation, clearly indicate where your response contains any information which you would not wish to be released under FOI, AIE or otherwise published.

This can include:

• personal information
• commercially sensitive information
• confidential information

Read our Data Privacy Notice

We would like to draw your attention to our Data Privacy Notice which explains:

• how and when we collect personal data
• why we do so
• how we treat this information
• your rights in relation to the collection of personal information
• how you can exercise those rights